Onslow County

On Tuesday, people across eastern North Carolina headed to the polls to cast their ballot in the municipal elections... and results are in. Chris Thomas reports on how cities and towns across the region may be getting ready to see new faces in old places.

Now, a quick word of warning – the 2015 municipal elections aren’t over in North Carolina. Until the end of the Nov. 10 County canvasses – a final tally of all submitted ballots – none of the results are official.

As summer continues, vector-borne diseases become more prevalent in Eastern NC. Lee Jenkins has more on Onslow County’s vector-borne disease season.

Long, hot days and summer showers provide the perfect breeding ground for ticks and mosquitoes, who in turn incubate diseases like Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and West Nile Virus. Several probable cases of these diseases and others, like Lyme Disease and Eastern Equine Encephalitis, were reported during the spring and summer in Onslow County.

Overcrowding in public schools is a growing issue across our state, as school districts accept more children than they can reasonably handle. This congestion puts a strain on resources and affects student behavior and learning. Here in eastern North Carolina, Pitt and Onslow counties are addressing this same issue in two different ways; through redistricting and open enrollment opportunities.

Marines from across the country come to Camp Lejeune, one of only three sites in the nation, to receive counter improvised explosive device training. This week on the Down East Journal, we take a trip to the Holly Ridge facility where 18 Georgia Liaison Team troops are preparing for deployment.

This story contains sounds from military training exercise and may be upsetting to some listeners.

In Jacksonville two former elementary school teachers have ambitious plans to open a new children museum. Co-Chair of the Zing Zumm Museum board Liz Owens discusses with Public Radio East’s Mikel Peterson how the museum went from being just an idea to reality.

It’s estimated that 6,700 acres of the wetlands in Hoffman Forest were impacted. Project Manager for the US Army Corp of Engineers Wilmington Regulatory Field Office Mickey Sugg says it appears excavating equipment was used to create ditches for water to exit the property.

Onslow County will soon be home to a solar farm that will power more than 2,400 homes. We talk about the scope of the project and tour the facility that is currently using landfill gas to create electricity.

Onslow County will soon be home to a solar farm that will power more than 2,400 homes. This week on the Down East Journal, we talk about the scope of the project and tour the facility that is currently using landfill gas to create electricity. And, a nonprofit in New Bern breaks ground soon on an organic garden maintained by disabled and homeless veterans. Listen for the Down East Journal airs Friday at noon on all of the PRE stations. And Saturday at noon on News and Ideas.

We explain how some Onslow County students are doing their part to help the environment by transforming their Styrofoam lunch trays into recyclable material.

Onslow County students are taking a bite out of grime, working to recycle the Styrofoam lunch trays their schools throw out every day. And, boy, do they throw out a lot of trays. According to Onslow County’s Solid Waste and Landfill Assistant Director Lisa Rider, the school district goes through over 19,000 trays in a single day. To make matters worse, the trays can remain in the landfill forever.